Teach me about organ meats...

[Wolfcat]

DH is going hunting and we don't want to waste anything. That means finding a use for as much of the animal as possible.

What are some ways to use the organs? I know the liver, heart and brains can be cooked in a variety of ways, but what about the lungs, etc? Give me as much info as possible please!

[flightgoddess]

Um, no personal experience here, but couldn't they be ground up with some of the muscle meats, for ground meat, or season it like sausage?

[IsaFrench]

heard from my father that his mom used to make a kind of stew with lungs, ... that was during 2cd world war & I've never got to know her & haven't learned the recipe ...

[IsaFrench]

looked up on line for a recipe from my native region , it says to cut chunks about 3 to 4 inches large, rince them in vinegary water, rinse well in clear water in order to eliminate as much of the blood from the blood vessels.

cook for 4 hours in a roux1/2 hour before the end of cooking time add potatoes,just before serving add  a cup of vinegar and sliced gherkins

[IsaFrench]

got curious & found another recipe online

- slice thinly

- prepare a marinade with garlic, coriander, salt, pepper, sugar and lemon juice, add water, mix well

- cover the sliced lung with the marinade, wait for a few hours

- fry in a pan on the stove top, until each slice is nicely golden in color ...

serve with rice

[IsaFrench]

another recipe:

- boil lungs in salty water for 15 minutes, drain, reserve

- in a pan, cook some liver, chopped, in fat, reserve

- in another pan, use olive oil, cook one chopped onion and 3 chopped cloves or garlic for a few minutes,

add tomato paste, a teaspoon full of cumin powder, salt and pepper, plus 2 cups of water, let simmer for a bit, covered until sauce in nicely thick

- slice the lungs and add the slices of lung in the sauce, add the cooked liver, let the meat get hot again and serve.

Bon appetit  (these recipes are all from France)

[Brightside]

My mom had this cookbook when I was growing up, and it fascinated me to read it - Confessions of a Sneaky Organic Cook.

http://cookbookery.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=48&products_id=6286&zenid=

I like the ground idea...I think she has a "recipe" of sorts that includes a selection of organ meats. Might be worth looking at, I honestly can't remember the book too well, but the mention of brains and hearts and such made an impression! 

...tried to find the recipe, this was as close as I got. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/philip.aston/kosher_offal.html

Good luck! 

[kaleywirthlin]

You have to check out the Nourishing traditions cookbook on amazon.  You can actually rent it from the local library too...great resource for organ meats.  we are starting to do them around our house now :)

[Wolfcat]

Thank you everyone! This gives me a great jumping-off point for this exciting new culinary challenge.

[Brown Lioness]

yea i think im in the "marinate then sautee" and "grind it up for use in other ground meats" camp.

[Bantams]

What will he be hunting?

Any large game is preferably shot through the heart and/or one or both lungs.  In that case, they will more than likely be ruined.  And if he is using a gun, you will want to be especially careful to trim away any portion that could have bullet (lead) fragments in it.  An arrow kill will be different - less damaged tissue.

Kidneys can be marinated and grilled.  Heart is good in a stew (it is a muscle after all), as is tongue.  Liver can be sliced and seared, or made into pate.  I've never done anything with the lungs.

The inside fat (suet), if there is any, can be rendered and used as tallow/lard.

Good luck to him!

[Wolfcat]

What he wants to hunt: boar/wild pig, deer, elk, moose, rabbit, birds of all kinds, buffalo... you get the picture. He wants to hunt with both gun and crossbow, so yay!

[cristeen]

And don't forget the tongue!!

[IsaFrench]

i love tongue .... but it usually doesn't come up "just right" for the texture I like when I make it ... although last time I tried following my BIL recipe to the letter ...

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by IsaFrench 

i love tongue .... but it usually doesn't come up "just right" for the texture I like when I make it ... although last time I tried following my BIL recipe to the letter ...

What's the texture you like?

I get grass fed tongues usually in the 1.5-2 pound range, and have learned by trial and error that they need 2 hours of simmering to be the right texture for me (chewy without being tough, tender without being mushy).  I got one recently in the 4 pound range, and it needed more like 3 1/2 hours to get that texture.  You can actually tell when it's tender by sticking a table fork in it - it should go in like you were forking a steak or something similar (a bit of resistance, but not difficult).  It shouldn't feel like an apple (high resistance - not cooked enough), or like a baked potato (overcooked by my standards).  You may have to check every 10-15 minutes until you figure out what you like. 

[IsaFrench]

I like it tender....

got fooled by my BIL assurance that just one hour of cooking would do it

will try again with a longer cooking time, thanks for your answer !